Punching mechanism



Jan. 27, 1931. R. M. ROBERTS 1,790,444

PUNCHING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 4, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet l my I I INVENTOR I RmseZZ/Zfiaeris A TORNEYS.

Jan. 27, 1931. R. M. ROBERTS 1,790,444

PUNCHING MECHANISM Filed Feb. 4, 1929 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 EILQ' E.

INVENTOR I RuJJeY/ZWBOZQTZ J A TTORNEYS Patented Jan. 27, 193i UHTE STATES IPA Eur orrice RUSSELL 1a. a'oBEaTs, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN PUNCHING MECHANISM Application filed February 4, 1929; SeriaLNo. 337,l82.

This invention relates to mechanism of the tv e em Jlo ed in con ection with ninchine' place comprising a supporting or retainer" block adapted to be secured to a press and enclosing a screw-threaded member adapted to maintain a punch-0r like article in opera tive position when operatively associated therewith. I Y

Another object is to provide, in combination with a press, a retainer member or block adapted to be rigidly secured'tothe press and enclosing therein'a rotatable-nut held against axial movement and adapted to have threaded engagement with a punch or other member, means being. provided for rotating the nut to engage or disengage the punch without disturbing the retainer block. .7 Another object is to provide meansfor securing a punch or other article in place upon a press comprising a retainer block adapted to be rigidly secured to the press, a rotatable nut 'member secured against axial movement by the retainer block,.apunch or other article being guided. in the block and having a threaded part adapted to be received by the nut, and a shoulder through which the punching or other effort is adapted to be transmitted to the nut, the nut being adapted to transmit such effort to the head or table of the press and being operable from a point eX-' terior to the retainer block, for controlling its relation with the punch or other member.

Another object is to provide a means for removablyi securing a punch or other article in a press comprising a retainer block adapted to be rigidly secured to a press part, a rotatable nut secured against axial move-. ment by the retainer block, and a punch or other member guided in the retainer block punch and die button being shown in parand having a threaded portion adapted for engagement with the nut, the nut being provided with teeth on its outer surface engageable, without removal of the retainer block, by means for controlling the rotatable position of the nut.

.21 further object is to provide means for locking the above described nut against inadvertent movement. a

The above being among the objects of the present invention, the same consists in certain novel features ofconstruction and combinations of parts to be hereinafter described with reierence to the accompanying drawings, and then claimed, having the above and other objects in view.

In the accompanying drawings which illustrate a suitable embodiment of theipresent invention, and in which like numerals refer to like parts throughout the several different To v1ews,-' V Fig. 1 is a more-or-less diagrammatic fragmentary sectional view showing a punch and. die operativel Y positioned in a press. "Fig; 2 is an enlarged partially broken fragmentary sectional view showing the means for securing the punch in position.

Fig. 8 is a plan view taken on line 3-3 of 1, and showing the nut wrench in operative position relative to the nut.

Fig. l is'a fragmentary vertical sectional view showing a modification of the construction shown Fig. 1. V

v Fig. 5 's a perspective view of the nut wrench.

1 Fig 6 is a more-or-less diagrammatic fragmentary vertical sectional View illustrating the manner of inserting and removing the punch and die'button shown in Fig. 1, the

tially inserted. position.

in the formation ofsheet metal parts requiring a plurality of holes to be punched therein, it is common practice to arrange the punching mechanism to punch as many holes as'possible in one operation. A single punch and a single die part, commonly known as a button, is provided for each hole to be punched. If these punches or buttons are not removable from the punch press independent of each other, a great deal of time is lostwhen it becomes necessary to replace one of such parts.

WVhen such punches become dull, it requires a relatively great force to strip the article being punched from the punch, and for this reason i is imperative that the punch be secured in place so that there is no possibility of its being pulled out when the work is being stripped from it. In order to guard against such pulling out of the punch it is conventional practice to form a flange on the punch which is received in the retainer block for the punch and which necessitates removal of the retainer block in order to replace the punch. here is, to my knowledge, one construction now on the market in which the punch may be removed without removal of the retainer block, but this construction is relatively expensive to produce. The present invention provides a construction in which the punch or other part which may require replacement in a press operation, may be secured in place and be removed without disturbing the retaining member, and this in a simple and economical manner.

Referring to Fig. 1, I show by the numeral 10 what may be considered as the movable head of a punch press, and at 11 what may be considered as the table. A retainer block 12 is secured to the head 10 by screws such as 13, a plurality of which are of course employed, and the block 12 is located accurately with respect to the head 10 by dowels such as 14.

he retainer block 12 has formed therein a vertical opening 15 in which the shank 16 of the punch 17 is adapted to be received and guided. The opening 15 extends upwardly through the retainer 12 and opens at its upper end into an enlarged concentric recess 18 which opens onto the upper face of the retainer block 12 where it is normally closed by the lower face of the head 10.

lVithin the recess 18 is positioned a nut memher 19 of substantially the same diameter as the recess 18 so as to be freely rota able and guided therein, and of such a thickness as to be retained against axial movement in the recess 18. The shank 16 of the punch 17 is provided at its upper end with a stud 20 adapted for threaded engagement with the nut 19. A shoulder 21 of material size is provided at the upper end of the shank 16 for hearing against the lower face of the nut 19, and the stud 20 is slightly less in length than the thickness of the nut member 19 so that the force exerted on the punch 17 in the act of punching is transmitted through the shoulder 21 to the nut 19 and through the nut 19 to the head 10. The nut member 19 is of hardened construction as is the shank 16 of the punch 17, so that the nut 19 acts as a follower block for transmitting the punching effort to a substantial area of the head 10.

The exterior of the nut 19 is formed with gear teeth 22, and an opening 23 parallel to the axis of the punch 17 is provided through the retainer block 12 and intersects the edge of the recess 18. This opening is adapted to receive a wrench, such as is indicated in Fig. 5, having a shank 24 and handle portion the free end of the shank 24 being formed to provide gear teeth 29 thereon. The opening 23 is so disposed relative to the nut 19 that when the end 29 of the wrench is inserted into the opening 23, the gear teeth 29 mesh with the gear teeth 22 on the nut 19, and thus act as a pinion in mesh with the gear teeth of the nut.

The punch itself is prevented from relative rotation in the opening 15 by means of a key 26 which is received in cooperating :eyways 27 and 28 in the retainer block 12 vnd shank 16. Vhere the punch is of irregu- I key 26 proper in operation, when it is desired to insert a punch such as 17 in the retainer block 12, the shank 16 is inserted into the opening 15 and the stud 20 is pressed against the nut 1,, The end 29 of the wrench is inserted in the opening 23 and is placed in meshing relationship with the gear teeth 22, and the wrench is then rotated so as to rotate the nut in the required direction to cause it to thread onto the stud 20 in the manner indicated in Fig. 6, thus drawing the punch up into place with the shoulder 21 abutting against the nut 19. The wrench is then removed and a stud member such as 30 is preferably threaded into the opening 23 until its pointed end 31 engages between two of the adjacent teeth 22 so as to lock the nut member 19 against inadvertent rotation. The removal of the punch from the block 12, of course, involves the reversal of these opera tions, but it will be observed that in the removal of the punch from the retainer block 12 upon counter-rotation of the nut 19, the punch is forced downwardly away from the nut. This is of advantage as is indicated in Fig 6, in that'the stripper plate 32 which further acts to maintain the punch in punching relation with respect to the is secured. to the head 10 by the screw mem-- here 33 and is urged toward its lowest position by spring means 34, does not need to be sprung up against the pressure of the springs in order to expose the lower end of the punch 17 to a gripping means as in the constructions now on the market.

The die button 49 which is centrally apertured as at 41 for reception of the punch 17, and against which the material 42 being worked upon rests during the punching op eration, may be secured in place in asimliar manner, that is, its lower end is reduced in diameter as at 43 and is threaded, and the opening 44 in the retainer block 45 opens into an enlar ed recess 46 on the lower face of shape, instead of circular as shown, the

arsena the block 45 in which the nut member 47 is rotatably retained against axial move-- ment, the member 432' being provided with enternal gear teeth which are engageable "by the end =29 of the Wrench when inserted through the opening 48in order tocontrol its rotatable position. A locking member such as 49 similar to the member 30 -may be provided for locking the nut member 47 against inadvertent movement. The die button 40 is, of course, provided with a key 50 for oreventing rotation thereof in the retainer member 45.

It is at times necessary, due to the peculiar configuration of the article being punched, to position the punch alt an appreciable distance from the head 10. The conventional methodof doing this, even in the case of the removable construction now on the market, is to space the retainer block from the head 10 by a separate spacer member. This is not satisfactory due to the fact that the spacer introduces an extra joint at which a shake' is liable to occur, and furthermore, because of the added member-which must be brought into accurate alignment with thebutton, it

is difficult to maintain the punch and button in absolute alignment. This may be readily overcome in the present invention by modify ing the constructionas shown in F ig. 4. As .7

shown in thatlfigure, a retainer-block of any required thickness or depth may be employed and secured directly to the head 10.

The recess 18 is made ofthe required depth so that a standard length of punch 17 may be placed therein and be exposed the required amount below the block 55. The same nut 19 previously described-is inserted in the recess 18 and a plug member, such as 56, of a length sufficient to fill the remaining depth'of the recess 18 is inserted in the recess 18 between the nut 19 and the lower face of the head 10. The opening 23 and key 26 are, of course, provided as in the previously described construction. The plug member 56, in this case, transmits the punching effort from the nut 19 to the head 10.

7 Although I have described the present invention in connection with a punch and die such as are employed for punching sheet metal parts such as 42, it will be apparent that the construction may be modified for use in connection with drawing dies or other like tools, and I desire itto be.understood that my invention is not limited to the specific tools shown in the drawings.

It will also be apparent that the particular form of gearing shown to operate the'nut member 19 may be modifiedwithout afiecting the present invention, and llkewlse the reversalof parts may be effected without materially altering the intent or result of the invention involved.

These and other formal changes" may be made in the specific embodiment of the invention described without departing from the spirit or substance of the broad invention,

the scope of which is commensurate with the appended claims.

lYhat I claim is 1.111 .a device of the type described, in

combination, a retainer block having a tool rece v ng opening therein, said opening being enlarged at one end to form a recess concentric 'therewitl l, a member rotatably retatable position thereof in said recess, said 111e1nberh'aving threads adapted for engagement with cooperablethreads on a tool received in the first mentioned opening,

2. In a press, in combination with a sup porting'surface thereof, a retainer block rigidly secured thereto, said block having an opening therein, a metal workingmember re? ceived' and guided in said-opening, a rotatable nutretained said block, a stud on said member, and means 'coop'erable with said nut without disturbing said retainer block for controlling the rotatable position ofsaid nut said stud.

1 In a press, in combinationwith a supporting surface thereof, a retainer block rigidly secured thereto, said retainer'block being whereby to cause it to'engage or disengage provided with an opening for the reception of metal WOZklligtOOl,aTOtatablQ member retainedby said retainer block, a metal working tool received in said openin "cooperable screwthreads on said metai wor liing tool and said rotatable member, and means for causing' rotation of said rotatable member without disturbing therelation ofsaid retainer block in respect to said surface.

4. In apress, in combination, a block adapted for securementto a face of saidpress, said block being provided with a tool receiving opening therethroughleading to said face, said opening being enlarged adj acent said face to form a recess, a rotatable nut in said recess confined against axial movemen'hsaid blockbeing provided with 'asecond opening .openinginto said recess from a normally ex posed face of said block, and meansmsertable said 'blockbeing-provided with a tool receiving opening therethrough leading to said face, said openmg being enlarged ad aCent "said face to form a recess, a rotatable nut in said recess confined againstaxial movement,

said-block bein provided with a second o ening openinglinto said recess from anormally exposed face of said block, gear teeth formed on said nut, and means insertableuinto said second o -aemng for operati-velyengaging said gear teeth to control the rotatable position of said nut.

6. In a press, in combination, a block adapted for securement to a face of said press, said block being provided with a tool receiving opening therethrough leading to said face, said opening being enlarged adjacent said face to form a recess, a rotatable nutv in said recess confined against axial movement, said block being provided with a second opening opening into said recess from a normally exposed face of said block, gear teeth formed on said nut, and means insertable into said second opening for operatively engaging said gear teeth to control the rotatable position of said nut, said means comprising a wrench the end of which is formed to simulate a pinion adapted to mesh with said teeth on said nut.

7. In combination with a face of a press, a block rigidly secured thereto, said block being provided with an opening therethrough opening onto said face, said opening being enlarged adjacent said face, a member having a threaded surface rotatable in said recess in concentric relationship with respect to said opening and confined against axial movement, a metal working tool non-rotatably but slidably received in and guided by said opening, said tool having a threaded surface cooperable with the first mentioned threaded surface, and a removable wrench insertable into said recess from a normally exposed face of said block for controlling the rotatable position of said member whereby to control the relation between said member and said tool.

8. In combination with a face of a press, a block rigidly secured thereto, said block being provided with an opening therethrough openingonto said face, said opening being enlarged adjacent said-face, a member having a threaded surface rotatable in said recess in concentric relationship with respect to said opening and confined against axial movement, a metal working tool non-rotatably but slidably received in and guided by said opening, said tool having a threaded surface cooperable with the first mentioned threaded surface, cooperating shoulders on said member and said tool for transmitting the operating force from said tool to said member independently of said threaded surfaces, and a removable wrench insertable into said recess from a normally exposed face of said block for controlling the rotatable position of said member whereby to control the relation between said member and said tool.

9. In combination with a face of a press, a retainer block rigidly secured thereto having an opening extending therethrough and opening onto said face, a member retained against axial movement between said block and said face in alignment with said opening, said member being apertured axially of said opening, a tool received in and guided by said opening, said tool having an end received in said aper are and locked against axial movement by said member, said block being provided with an opening leading from a normally exposed face thereof to adjacent said member, and means insertable through said opening engageable with said member to move it out of engageable relation with said end whereby to permit withdrawal of said tool from said block.

10. In combination with a face of a press, a retainer bloc rigidly secured thereto hav ing an opening extending therethrough and opening onto said face, a member retained against axial movement between said block and said face in alignment with said opening, said member being apertured in alignment with said opening, a tool received in and guided by said opening, said tool having a reduced end portion received in said aperture and locked against axial movement by said member, said block being provided with an opening leading from a normally exposed face thereof to adjacent said member, and means insertable through said opening engageable with said member to move it out of engageable relation with said tool whereby to permit withdrawal of said tool from said block, said second opening being normally closed by a plug provided with a part adapted to engage said member and lock it against inadvertent movement.

RUSSELL M. ROBERTS. 

